Skip to main content

Kolkata.


"Don’t get surprised if next time you travel in Kolkata in a metro, standing with heavy bags somehow holding the suspended hangers and a stranger sitting in front of you in her seat offers her lap for your baggage!"
So back in Kolkata I was earning the second least amount in my batch. And the worst part of all? They didn't even pay me my last month’s stipend! A small suggestion to all my juniors out there -whatever it is never feel ashamed of asking what you really deserve. You always get what you ask for!

 So it is pretty clear that my office experience in Kolkata wasn’t that good at all. But that never stopped me from exploring this great city. Being an Architect the most important thing you need is INSPIRATION. Never miss a chance to get inspired. But there is a fine line between getting inspired from a building and stealing. Well, we’ll come to that later! 
And so I travelled! I travelled every corner of Kolkata. Some places I went with my relatives and to some I just grabbed my camera and my wallet and went out there alone. From the Great Indian Museum to the famous Dakshineshwar temple.From Victoria Memorial to the Howrah bridge .From the writer’s buiding to the mere streets of Kolkata. I travelled as much as I could via every possible means of transport available!  Metro, trams, buses and local trains.








The links below will help you know more about Kolkata’s architectural heritage.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/kolkata-calcutta/sights/architecture
http://www.westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/homestays2
Hit the link below to get a chronological history of architecture in Kolkata-
http://www.archinomy.com/case-studies/1998/evolution-of-calcutta-kolkata

Apart from the architecture and art in Kolkata, although Bengali is recorded as the sweetest language of the world, I found the locals extremely short tempered and not very cooperative. They are always ready to fight and have an argument. The positive side of this is, nobody would compromise with anything. I have seen people almost falling off the auto rickshaws in lucknow so as to adjust two extra passengers on either side of the drivers’ seat. But in Kolkata there are actually two seats available next to the driver’s for the passengers. Even to scratch their back, Kolkatans won’t just do it with a stick or a scale .They have a special equipment meant only for scratching their backs too!!
   
Kolkata is a big family-Where every next person is a dada or a didi. Where the driver wont return the change because it is his right to earn that extra penny and say ‘Didi eto tao ki dite parben na?, (Didi can’t you give even this much extra?)  Where you can fight with anybody , anywhere, anytime of the hour, like you fight with your own dada and didi. There is love, there is care and a lot of disagreements. Don’t get surprised if next time you travel in Kolkata in a metro, standing with heavy bags somehow holding the suspended hangers and a stranger sitting in front of you in her seat offers her lap for your baggage! Would any stranger do that to you in delhi? I saw it happen almost every other day!
So the 5 months of training in Kolkata was a bitter sweet experience for me.

It is a city to which anybody can easily fall in love with!

Up next is how I discovered internet doesn't have it all!There are still scope for ideas that are original.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Luxury Washroom Design Challenge Entry

Few months back my boss forwarded an email to me which was a usual competition email with instructions to guide the interns to execute it. I never had an idea that I'll be more than delighted to see that it was rather an individual competition and only an architect with the license to practice can participate in it. I never thought that I would actually participate and submit it and it won't be just another 'to do' on my list until the last day of submission. This was a breath of fresh air, where I had no boundaries- no client to tell what exactly to do, no developer to impose all the monetary limitations and no government by-laws to follow. This was not something where I was supposed to give shape to the ideas of my boss, but rather put all the wisdom and knowledge gained under him and this firm and design something entirely on my own. It was also different from the college competitions, where I can't just paint unicorns in the sky, but look for a tool to crea...
1 comment
Read more

Is architecture really a social responsibility?

 'as architects our goodness is more important than our greatness and our compassion more eventful than our passion.'  Like most people, I am guilty to attend seminars and conferences and accept invitations lured by the hotel where it is organised and the cocktails and dinner that follows. More often than not the conferences are only ways to meet new vendors, materials and are rather boring to be honest. But sometimes… just sometimes... it gives you back much more than what you expect. It forces you to ponder the untouched philosophies of life that have always existed around you without it being realized.Think about something that is so simple, so basic but neglected. I happened to be in one such conferences last night where it somewhere intensely touched my soul. I only hope that the chords it hit so deep within me should rather not fade away any sooner and that is why I thought of writing about it. After all this was my purpose when I started writing blogs. Though I am...
1 comment
Read more

Boss Homes-Part-1

A house is made of walls and beams. A house is made of love and dreams. If I ask, what would you rather design- a private residence or an apartment for a developer, what would be your answer? Do leave a comment at the end of this post.  I remember my conversation with Mr. Gupta one afternoon, for whom we are designing a commercial cum residential building at one of the most prestigious spots in the city. I have sat with him for hours, session after session, discussing each of the floors, commercial and residential, decoding his requirements. The most detailed discussion which lasted for a couple of hours was his floor, which he decided to convert into his own home. In the middle of the conversation he said to me, ’I know I am elaborating each and every aspect of this plan, only because it’s going to be my home and I have given a lot of thought to it, so please bear with me’. I instantly realised that I have not enjoyed discussing any of the other floors as much as this fl...
Post a Comment
Read more